


Batman on the balcony

by Evil_Keshi



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Writer Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 11:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15885462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Keshi/pseuds/Evil_Keshi
Summary: Magnus' neighbour practices his parkour skills across the balconies of their apartment complex and Magnus fails at pretending he's not impressed.





	Batman on the balcony

**Author's Note:**

> I mentioned this oneshot a while ago and here it is, finally! Enjoy :)

  


Magnus' Muse worked in mysterious ways. His Muse would pack her bags and leave him for days on end while he stared at his blank page and mumbled parts of his plot under his breath, trying to find the missing sparks so that the words would put themselves on the paper and actually mean something to him.

Some other times, she came back at full force at two in the morning and forced him out of bed, kicking his ass with her metaphorical legs to make him write, only to go back to sleep for a few hours around lunch time.

For the past two days, his Muse had left him alone, for the very good reason that Magnus was moving in his new apartment and couldn't have found a second to write even if he'd wanted to. Between unpacking, cleaning up, making sure each trinket was right where it belonged in this new home, feeding his best friends helping him with moving the furniture around and eventually falling asleep in his bath at the end of these tiring days, Magnus had been completely unable to sit down for a minute and think.

Until four o'clock that morning.

He had woken up from a weird dream, something about goats waiting for their bus, with the urge to write the next step in his character's life: Ben had finally reached a point in his existence where he felt good in his own shoes and it was about time something even better came his way.

Fully ready to get on with Ben's first tentative meeting with his estranged father, which was definitively going to end in a more positive way than Magnus' own had, he had sat down and felt pure elation at getting his hands on Ben's story again. Telling his story was cathartic, even though Ben and he weren't completely the same boys, and each word put on paper made Magnus' shoulders less heavy with thoughts and regrets.

He took a break in his writing a little after seven o'clock, his brain screaming at him for letting him work for so long without a cup of coffee, and Magnus passed in front of the balcony on his way to the kitchen, glancing at the shy sunrise. This apartment was such a good investment! The early lights did wonders to his imagination and inspiration, he could already tell his Muse would stay with him for longer periods of time than she used to... Hopefully.

Magnus prepared his coffee while he wondered about the set up of Ben's reunion with his father, unsure of his final decision. Either of their place put his main character in a more vulnerable position while a public place like a restaurant enabled him to leave whenever he wanted, if he needed to...

Musing about that, back to mumbling, Magnus went back to his living-room with his cup clenched in his hands as he enjoyed the warmth of the coffee against his palms. He was so focused that he started in fright and nearly let go of his cup when a shadow passed in front of the balcony window, vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

"What the fuck?" he groaned in confusion.

It was gone too fast, Magnus hadn't been able to see an actual shape, but... It couldn't be a man on his balcony, could it? He lived on the fourth floor! A cat, maybe? A bird? No, the shadow had seemed bigger than an animal... Or maybe this was just a trick of his mind? He was tired after moving in, he had woken up earlier than he usually did and he had been coffee-deprived until five minutes ago, so... Yes. Probably a trick.

Magnus shook his head and kept moving, Ben's story back in his head. He would try to go to bed early that night, he clearly needed the rest.

  


Magnus got some actual rest that night and he had all but forgotten about the shadow on his balcony, except that it happened again the next day. And the next one. And the one after that, too.

"I think Batman lives in my building," he told Ragnor on the phone three days later, deadly serious.

"Magnus, are you drunk?" his best friend asked, equally grave. "It's nine in the morning!"

"First of all, it's happy hour somewhere," the author answered, "Second of all, I'm offended. I'm not drunk nor joking! There is someone on my balcony every morning!"

"What makes you think it's Batman?" Ragnor asked again, this time clearly humouring his friend.

"Big, dark, silent shape," Magnus enumerated, "probably comes home every morning after a long night of giving his own justice."

"You authors have way too much imagination," Ragnor sighed. "Look, as far as we know, New York isn't Gotham City. What would Batman be doing in the area?"

Well, Ragnor had a point.

  


After one full week of catching glimpses of that damn shadow, without ever daring to ambush it - what if it _was_ Batman? - Magnus had finally had enough. He'd observed it, _studied_ it, and he had come to the conclusion that the shadow always appeared with clockwork regularity, at twenty-two past seven precisely, so it couldn't be hard to prepare a trap... Trap that, in the end, only consisted of Magnus jumping onto his balcony to confront the mysterious shadow. Batman. Whatever it may be - hopefully not a bloodthirsty beast, though... Okay, maybe Ragnor was right: his imagination was in overdrive.

So, on that fine morning, at twenty-one past seven, Magnus was ready to attack. As soon as the big hand of his watch moved on to twenty-two, he stormed out of his apartment through the balcony windows, upright on his two feet and willing to fight to defend his territory, when someone behind him suddenly yelled:

"Watch out!"

Magnus didn't manage to turn around in time to identify the owner of that voice: next thing he knew, a solid - so very much solid, what the fuck? - someone ran into him and then, several things happened too quickly for him to fully process each one at his own pace. He was thrown off balance and stumbled with a surprised yelp, preparing himself to see the concrete of his balcony up-close, except that a hand suddenly found itself on his neck and he was pulled into a man's embrace, until he landed on his back. The impact felt less brutal and painful than he'd expected, which could be easily explained by the man's outstretched hand that had slowed down their entwined fall.

Shocked into silence, Magnus gaped at the attractive young man _sitting_ on him with an equally startled expression on his face. The man's sweatpants ran low on his hips, or maybe that was just because he was fucking sitting on Magnus, showing sharp hipbones he would have preferred not to know existed, for his own sanity. Add to the enthralling sight a pair of great arms and two hazel eyes...

Magnus could feel the author coming out of him, burning his fingertips with the need to write, ready to imagine plenty of metaphors to describe this man. Instead of telling the stranger that his gorgeous eyes held the power of the greatest armies and that many men would have succumbed to their beauty, he blurted out:

"You're not Batman."

"Uh... No? Sorry?" the guy said, a bit tentatively. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Magnus answered, still in a daze, before he caught up with the situation, "No! What the hell were you doing on my balcony?! Aren't you ashamed, running over honest citizens like this?! Who the fuck even jumps on other people's balconies? Are you a thief?"

The young man's eyes widened more and more with every new word that came out of Magnus' mouth and he looked terribly awkward and embarrassed, until he shook his head with a small, placating smile.

"I apologise," he said when Magnus shut up for more than one second. "I promise I'm not a thief, I'm just practicing."

"Practicing?" the author repeated, unable to shut up and hide his incredulity. "Practicing what? The art of scaring people to death?"

"Parkour," the other simply explained, "It is a technique of movement, to get from one point to another as fast as possible while using your body and no other equipm..."

"I know what parkour is," Magnus interrupted him, more gently than he'd meant to, because this man had a really nice voice and he didn't want him to actually shut up.

"Oh, good," the stranger said with a wider smile, "I practice across the balconies, the height is great and... I'm sorry, I won't bore you with the details. I warned the neighbours and asked for their permission before doing it here, you know? I thought this apartment was empty, though..."

"I moved in a week ago," the author grumbled.

"Oh... Well, I'm truly sorry, I had no idea... If you want, I can change my routine so I don't have to come across your balcony again, I..."

"It's fine," Magnus heard himself say before he could fully think about it, "I don't mind, now that I know I'm not hallucinating and that you're not..."

He trailed off, but the young man seemed to follow the path of his thoughts perfectly well because he smirked.

"That I'm not Batman."

Ugh, that mocking smirk. Magnus didn't know whether it made him furious or horny. Maybe both.

"You're still sitting on me," Magnus pointed out as revenge, hoping to wipe out the self-satisfied grin of this man's handsome face.

He was glad to see the smirk slip to be replaced with an embarrassed blush as the other man scrambled to his feet, red all the way up to the roots of his messy hair. Ah, take that! However, Magnus was surprised when the other bent down to grab his hands and help him on his feet, with a little too much force maybe, for Magnus ended up in his arms - again?

"Whoa, uh," he stammered, going cross-eyed as he found himself facing an enticing throat and absolutely delightful collarbones, "Usually, I like to know my partner's name before we get that close, you know?"

The effect was immediate: the young man let go of him as if he'd burned himself and he took a step back.

"Right, I'm Alec," he introduced himself, "and I'm still very sorry about the way our first meeting went down."

"Magnus," the author answered with a small laugh. "Don't fret, it's fine. I'm glad to know it's not a ferocious animal wandering on my balcony."

"A ferocious animal?" Alec repeated dubiously. "We're on the fourth floor... in New York."

"I'm an author," Magnus said as if it explained everything, and for him it did, although the other man looked still as confused. "Never mind."

"Okay..." Alec drawled, "Well, Magnus, it was... a pleasure meeting you. I'll be on my way, then. Have a nice day!"

"You too," he answered, before he added, "Do you maybe want to go out through the..."

Too late. Alec ran to the other side of the balcony and jumped over the railing, landing on the neighbour's balcony one floor lower and taking off again.

"... door," Magnus finished, addressing his now deserted balcony. "Well, I guess not."

He was not impressed. He refused to be. Not even at the sight of Alec's ass as he propelled himself over the side railing.

  


Magnus hated himself just a tiny bit. Not twenty-four hours after the episode of Alec falling on him, he had made Ben meet someone, even though none of this had been planned in his plot when he'd first started to write this story. Surprise decisions were common for him but they always made sense and in this special case... Magnus hadn't wanted Ben to have a love interest. At least David didn't look like Alec.

"You said this book would a sort of autobiography," his editor pointed out on the phone when he called her the next morning to complain about Alec's effect on his book. "You met someone, Ben meets someone, I don't see the problem."

"I didn't _meet someone_ , Maia," Magnus felt compelled to clarify. "He fell on me, that's it. The problem is not for Ben, though... He's doing fine, he faced his past mistakes and he fixed his problems, life's good. Introducing David isn't a magic plot twist to save him, you know I won't romanticise all the shit Ben went through."

"I know," Maia told him softly, for she knew how hard Magnus had thought - hoped - Camille would save him when he'd met _her_. "David is coming at a good time for Ben... They'll be great together."

"Yeah, they will," Magnus confirmed.

"So?" she tried again. "What is the problem here?"

"Alec fell on me."

"Yes, you've mentioned that," Maia told him with as much patience as she could muster, although she was probably rolling her eyes on the other end of the line.

"I kinda fell _for_ him?" Magnus explained, sounding like he doubted his own words. "Maia, I've seen the guy once. Once! I'm not supposed to feel like this, not so soon! I shouldn't be so excited at the prospect of him coming onto my balcony again!"

"Is that a sexual metaphor?" she worried.

"What? No! Why would you even..."

"Alright, fine," she snorted in the phone, "I'll stick to literature references. What Ben feels for David... Do you already feel this way for your Romeo as well?"

"Well," Magnus drawled, not too sure that he wanted to answer that question, for fear that it would come back to bite him in the ass in a non-pleasurable way, "Ben and David have had a proper first date already so in the eventuality that I did indeed feel for Alec what Ben feels for David, it couldn't possibly be valid, because we haven't. Had a first date, I mean. So how could I even begin to potentially..."

"Magnus."

Maia's stern voice as she interrupted him told the author that it was about time to stop with the bullshit. Ugh.

"Okay, fine, I do!" Magnus exclaimed, throwing his free hand in the air in an Oscar-worthy dramatic fashion. "I do feel what Ben feels but he's a character in a book! Love at first sight can be a thing!"

"Your life can be good too, you know..." Maia added, this time on a soft tone, almost encouraging.

"Right," Magnus began, "but..."

Light knocks interrupted him in the middle of his sentence and he trailed off as he looked around, intrigued, trying to find the source of the noise while Maia asked if he was alright - but he didn't hear her. Instead, he focused on his balcony, where Alec stood in workout clothes similar to those he had been wearing the previous day.

"Sorry, Maia, I have to go," he mumbled on the phone, "Batman's here. Call you later!"

He hung up, cutting short her incredulous questions, and he strode toward his window to open it and step outside.

"Good morning, Magnus!" Alec greeted him with a voice too merry for the hour - twenty-three past seven this time, because the author had taken just one minute too long to notice his soft knocks on the window.

"Hey," Magnus answered, a bit uncertain.

What was Alec doing there, going out of his way to speak to him when he'd never stopped before? Well, he hadn't known the flat wasn't empty but... Magnus had given him the authorisation to keep using his balcony to practice, so what else could he possibly want?

As he wondered about the reasons behind Alec's presence, Magnus realised that he was holding a coffee cup in one of his hands, that he extended in the author's direction.

"Uh?" Magnus asked in a mumble, showing the extent of his eloquence.

"It's for you," Alec said, smiling as he spelled it out for the other man and jerked the paper cup his way. "As an apology, for yesterday."

Dumbfounded, Magnus accepted the coffee and checked the lid before taking a tentative sip, which resulted in an explosion of warm and sugary happiness on his tongue.

"Thank you," he finally said, resisting the urge to facepalm as he realised that he should have thanked Alec from the start. "You didn't have to... Wait. Did you just parkour your way to my balcony with a hot coffee in hand? Without spilling it all over yourself?"

"I'm awesome like that, I guess," Alec answered with a cheeky grin, which made Magnus scoff to hide how affected he was by that wide smile.

"Or maybe parkour is way easier than we all think," the author shot back, smirking.

"Or maybe I'm just that good," the other replied.

He winked at Magnus, blew him a kiss - oh fuck - and then he was off, much like the previous day, jumping and disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving laughter in his wake. Magnus didn't rush to the side railing to watch him land one floor lower, not at all. He didn't stare at Alec's ass either.

He might, however, have pointedly looked away while a blush darkened his cheeks.

  


Magnus had accepted that Alec was a strange man so he wasn't that surprised when he stopped by the next day with another cup of coffee in hand, and again the next one, and the one after that as well. In the end, it became a habit of sorts and Magnus learned to expect Alec with pancakes some days, cookies the others, or even smoothies, so they could have a quick and light breakfast together before the young man jumped on someone else's balcony.

During these blissful, fantastic moments, Magnus learned that Alec liked red fruits better and passionately hated bananas, that he had a deep admiration for writers and their works, even when he didn't like their stories: creating another world, putting emotions into words, making a reader smile when a character smiled... Alec laughed as he admitted that he was literally unable to do that, at all, and he was in awe when Magnus told him about his job.

In return, Magnus told him about his current project, how it was almost an autobiography, how he felt a bit anxious to know what the pubic opinion on that book would be and that of the people who were close to him but perhaps didn't know everything that had happened to him when he was younger.

Morning after morning, Magnus also came to learn that he was completely screwed, because Alec - _Alexander's my full name, in case you'd want to use it_ \- was funny and kind and caring, and he was also flirting with him and looking at him as if Magnus owned all the answers to the universe's questions... And Magnus knew that Alec wasn't the only one to have stars in his eyes at the sight of the other.

"Did you ask him out yet?" Ragnor asked one afternoon as he prepared tea for Magnus and himself.

"Nooooooo," the author answered in a desperate moan while he struggled to write Ben's and David's first kiss.

Magnus tried to make the snide voice in his head shut up, exhausted to hear it repeat that he couldn't write that scene because he hadn't kissed Alec yet. Maybe that was true. Only maybe. However, he was most definitively certain that he was dying to feel Alec's lips on his - or anywhere else, he wasn't picky when it came to that man.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Ragnor wondered, his eyes wide, "You've been talking about him all month and you haven't made a move yet? Why?"

"Because I'm scared I'll try to ask for a first date and propose instead," Magnus told his friend in all honestly, although Ragnor looked like he didn't know whether to believe him or not.

"You're an idiot," he eventually settled for.

"I know," Magnus mumbled, even as David and Ben mocked him from inside their own little heart-shaped world.

  


Alec was late. By _late_ , Magnus didn't mean twenty-five or even half past seven, no: Alec was late because it was eight o'clock already and Magnus was worried sick, so worried that he'd let the pancakes burn.

What if Alec had missed a landing and broken his neck after a four-floor-long fall? Nope, nope, not possible, because Magnus had glanced over the edge of his balcony and broken into a cold sweat as he looked down, relieved to realise that no one was down there. Ugh, authors and their minds... Maybe Alec had simply gotten delayed at the coffee shop. For half an hour, though? Unlikely.

Or maybe... _Oh no_ , he thought as tears gathered into his eyes. What if Alec had gotten sick of him? What if he didn't want to see him anymore, with or without reason, what if their story was over before it could even truly began?

Magnus jumped out of his skin when his doorbell rang and he yelped, clutching his chest as he realised that someone was standing in front of his door and... What if it was a police officer visiting to announce that they'd found Alec, injured or worse, and... No. That, too, was impossible: Alec didn't have him listed as his emergency contact.

Taking a deep breath, Magnus calmed down as much as he could and he walked toward the front door, his steps still hesitant. He opened the door feeling like he was going to faint, before he was revived in the most delicious way at the sight that blessed his eyes: Alec was alive. That, and looking pretty handsome in dark jeans, an olive green sweater and a beige trench coat, so different from his usual sportswear.

"Hi Magnoomph!"

Alec didn't manage to greet him properly, because Magnus rudely interrupted him, overwhelmed with relief and finally giving into the urge to kiss him: he threw himself at Alec, who gladly caught him and didn't jerk away when Magnus smashed their lips together, tasting mint on his tongue and enjoying every. Single. Second. When they stepped back, much too soon if you asked Magnus, Alec was smiling, so the author didn't heed his need to apologise for the surprise kiss.

"I wanted to ask you out on a first date before kissing you," Alec said, laughing, "but I guess this works too..."

"You wanted to ask me out?" Magnus repeated, his eyes widening: Alec being dressed and late made much more sense now.

"Yeah... Breakfast date?" he suggested, his smile doing wonderful things to Magnus' body and making his fingers twitch with the need to grab a pen and write how beautiful this amazing man looked - it wasn't the first time and he had an inkling it wouldn't be the last either.

"Absolutely," Magnus accepted with a grin, slotting his hand into Alec's outstretched one.

Alexander's answering smile was otherworldly and even the most talented of writers wouldn't have managed to describe the feelings in Magnus' heart at that exact instant.

  


  


_The descent into hell is easy_ by Magnus Bane

 _To my very own Batman, for agreeing to proofread this monster. For accepting all of me, knowing all of me, and loving all of me. Thank you Alexander, I love you_.

 _P.S. Thank you for not pointing out how similar David is to you. That would have been embarrassing. Love_ ,

 _Magnus_.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading until the end! Feel free to share your thoughts on this short story, it would mean a lot to me ;)


End file.
